Rugby World Cup 2015: Winners and Losers from South Africa vs. New Zealand

New Zealand will have the chance to defend their Rugby World Cup crown after defeating South Africa 20-18 on Saturday in their most difficult test of the 2015 tournament so far.

South Africa's forwards drove the All Blacks close to the wire at times, where the kicking of Handre Pollard and Patrick Lambie saw the Springboks to within a single score of their foes, but they ultimately fell short.

Tries from Jerome Kaino and Beauden Barrett sealed the victory for Steve Hansen's side, who will take on either Australia or Argentina next Saturday with the aim of becoming the first ever-back-to-back world champions.

Read on for a roundup of the biggest winners and losers to come from Saturday's fierce Test encounter.

Winner: Dan 'Comeback Kid' Carter

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Having been forced to miss the 2011 final through injury, Dan Carter will have his chance to feature on the biggest stage rugby has to offer after kicking the All Blacks to a second successive final on Saturday.

It's slightly difficult to believe this will be the fly-half's first World Cup finale at 33 years of age, and Carter is making up for lost time as he prepares to embark upon what's likely to be the last leg of his career with Racing 92.

The evergreen No. 10 chalked up half of his team's 20 points and notched a drop goal that exemplified why Carter is held in such high regard, accomplishing the incredible in circumstances that just don't seem to allow it.

Paul Cully of the Sydney Morning Herald attested to Carter "writing a different script" to the rest of his team, and that seems a succinct way of describing the man who was simply on a different wavelength at times.

Loser: Muted Boks Attack

Perhaps it was always going to be the method in which New Zealand were to clinch this win, but many may be surprised with just how little the Springboks attack threatened their opponents on Saturday.

With players like Jesse Kriel, Bryan Habana and Damian de Allende in their midst, there's serious talent in this Springboks setup, but it effectively counted for nought as the forwards did almost all Saturday's heavy lifting.

Heyneke Meyer's men carried for just 146 metres, while New Zealand recorded just shy of 400, and while South Africa might have challenged through tactics, the victors reaped what they sowed with attacking endeavour.

The two-point gap suggests a tense and tight match, which it was, but all too often were the Boks made to look limp in passages of lateral running rugby, often lacking ingenuity.

Winner: All Blacks Incision

And while the Boks were lacking that final touch in the 22 to make things happen through the hands, New Zealand spread the ball wide on two occasions to show off the fact they had no such issues in their strategy.

The All Blacks' ability to run through the phases, wait and pounce on their openings is second to none, and it stands as the reason they're so able to not only last, but thrive when they get players sent to the bin.

First, we saw Richie McCaw find space on the right to put Jerome Kaino over before Ma'a Nonu drew his defenders to give Beauden Barrett space for a second try late on.

It wasn't exactly as incisive as last week's throttling of France, but that only makes it all the clearer just how clinical New Zealand are when taking their chances, no matter how few.

Loser: Northern Hemisphere (Again)

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And speaking of that defeat of the French, Saturday's result showed us once again why the southern hemisphere is and will continue to reign atop rugby's upper echelon for the foreseeable future.

Without trying to flog a dead horse, New Zealand's two-point defeat of South Africa—a team who lost to Japan five weeks ago—couldn't have been much further from the 62-13 defeat inflicted on Les Bleus.

Aside from any debate regarding a gulf in talent and youth production, this seems as much a mental bridge that needs crossing as much as anything else, with the old notion of a European inferiority complex coming back into play.

South Africa knew they had the mettle to beat New Zealand and might have managed it on another day, a result that made the 49 points that separated the All Blacks and France look that much more embarrassing.

Now's the time to leave the northern hemisphere alone and let the teams attempt their post-World Cup recovery, but two of the oldest enemies from down under really did a fine job of advertising their brand—even if it was in England's unfamiliar conditions.

Winner: Ben Smith

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New Zealand full-back Ben Smith once again gave the rest of his world peers a tutorial on how to play No. 15 this Saturday and was justly rewarded with man-of-the-match honours.

Aerially dominant, impenetrable in the tackle and a constant threat coming into the All Blacks attacking line, the Highlanders star kept matters under lock and key at the back of a New Zealand lineup that committed its share of errors.

Hansen was quoted by Rugby World after the game insisting Smith isn't an "unsung" hero of the squad, as has been suggested, but gleaned any individual reliance from his star, stating: "Ben Smith isn't unsung in our group. Everyone in the 31 is doing their job. We don't see it as 15, or 23. Ben's been outstanding."

Smith would undoubtedly see it the same way, but his most recent head-to-head win over Willie le Roux served as further evidence to Smith being possibly the best fullback in the sport right now.

All statistics come courtesy of ESPN Scrum.